Temperature responsive piezo-electric crystal oscillator



Feb. 7, "1950 H. M. BACH TEMPERATURE RESPONSIVE PIEZOELECTRIC CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR Filed April 17, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet l gwuwwixya HENRY Efmcw Feb. 7, 1950 H. M. BACH 2 4 TEMPERATURE RESPONSIVE PIEZOELECTRIC CRYSTAL OSCILLATOR Filed April 1'7, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fl (5-. I-

Jwwrvkva HENRY M B MWMW Patented Feb. 7, 1950 umT ED? us-TAT PATENT; OFFICE TEMPERATURERESPONSIVE PIEZQ- ELECTRIC; oRxs'rAL, OSCILLATOR Henry M. Bach Lawrence. 36., .assignor' to Premieri Crystal Labor-at oldest Incorporated N Applicitt'idfiAPril'fij15245;.Sefial N c. 588,877

Thisinvention relatescontrol circults; and

more particularlyto temperature-responsive 0011- trol circuits.

A main object of this invention i's-t'o provide a; I

novel and improved method and apparatuszfor controlling the operation of electrical equipment asa function of 'temperature change.

A further object of this invention is 'to= provide increased sensitivity: temperature responsivecontrol circuits.

5: Claims; (o1; 250-36) 2.: sentin'g a modification of the temperaturere sponsive-ci'rcuit (if-Figure 2; v

Figure 5 is a set of curves illustrating the tenm perature response characteristicso'f a plezo-el'ec' the oscillator plate designed for cut-off over a: predetermined temperature-range.-

Figure 6 is a set of curves illustrating the-tem perature respo'nse characteristics ofa piezo el'ec A stillfurtherobject of'thisinventionis:to'-pro- I vide a method and means for obtaining sharp: 5

control circuit performance where it" is desired to energize or'deenerg ize equipment ataccurately predetermined ambienttemperatures orover closely specified temperature ranges.

A still further object of this invention is to operation and which are accurately repeatable' regardless of 'the direction of temperaturechange:

A still further object ofthe invention isto provide an improved adjustable temperature-re"-' sponsive element for? use in, temperature controlled electri'cal'circuits which is extremely stable and dependable as to its temperature response characteristics;

Further objects and a'dvantages of theinvem tion will appear from the. foilowingfdescription and claims, andifrom'the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a set of curves illustrating the temperature characteristics of a piezo-electric. oscillator plate employed; as. a temperature responsive element in accordance withrthis-vinventioni v Figure 2 is a schematic diagram ofiatemperaature responsive circuitwherein a; quartz; crystal: is employed as the; temperature; responsive e1e:- ment.

Figure 3" is a diagrammatic. view; of tempera ture responsive?apparatus.accordlng'to this ihivention arranged: for remote" wireless controlof equipment as a function of temperature at aic'on trol station.

tri'c oscillator plate designed for response attwd predetermined points over a range of temperatures: I

Figure 7: is a schema-tickv circuit diagram of a temperature responsive circuitemployingthe In controlling equipment" for actuation at a certain desired temperature or over a specifie temperature range it is highly importantthat as sharp response characteristic bepresent the temperature responsive element: of the ctmtrol 20 equipment and that the performance of said-element be accurately repeatable over long periods A of ti'me; after numerous cycles of operation, and

regardless of inwhich direction the tem ileratlire change whicbproduc'es therespon'seoccurs; can

\ vention'a-l' thermostats give", asa general-rule, only approximations or satisfactory performance in the aboverespe'c'ts, Ih the'ordinarybimetalther mostatic'. switch thermal lag in the bimetallic theinaccurateperformanceof thed'evice: Other types of mechanicaltemperature responsiveelement'; fatigue in the meter structure;- and cor rosion of the contacts are factors ccntrflouting'to 7 switch devices or expansible fluid switch devices" as" employedin the art are'characterized' bysimi Ian def ects:

. Figure 4 is hematiccircuwam mmm re: w

It is a prime purpose or this invention" to pro'- vide a temperature responsive control device? whiclr utilizes the well known stability of performance and permanency of mechanical charac teristics ofa piezo el'ectric quart'z crystal or other piezo electric crystal having generically similarch'aracteristi'cs;

In the usual design procedure employed. in fab:- ricating crystal oscillator-plates for use inradici "transmitters a prime desideratunr has" been tof avoid or control" temperature dips in crystal a'c-" ti vitv over the workingtemperature range of the equipment. In designing the plate information must be obtained as to" the presence or proximity of mechanically coupledfmodes'ofvibration'which" may interfere with' the mainmode ofvibration" at certain points within the working temperature. range and cause-discontinuities in tlieioscillatiozr of the" crystal and concurrent dips in activity; when misinformation hasbeenobtained"; as by a trial temperature run or by other methods, the dimensions of the plate may be changed, or the plate may be otherwise treated, to move the interfering modes out of the temperature region of possible interference with the main mode. By similar methods it is obviously possible to so design the plate that an interfering mode, or a pinrality ofinterfering modes may be caused to interfere with the main mode at desired points over the temperature range and that activity dips or discontinuities of oscillation of the crystal may be thus caused to occur at said desired points. For a plate thus designed, the performance of the plate will be permanently established and said performance will be faithfully repeated over long periods of time and will be accurately reproduced regardless of which direction the change of drum 22 by solenoid l6, it can be readily seen that the temperature controlled circuit will alin temperature which produces the interference of the modes occurs.

Once the set of interfering modes have been designed into the plate it is possible to shift the points of interference in either direction with respect to temperature by varying the input reactance of the plate. A simple means for adjusting the point of temperature response consists of a small variable condenser shunted across the crystal. By varying the shunt capacity the point of interference of the modes may be shifted a substantial number of degrees in either direction. Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows the general temperature characteristics of a plate having an interfering mode producing a discontinuity of oscillation at a temperature T1, the plate being connected in a conventional tunedplate oscillator circuit such as shown in Figure 2 In Figure 1, ll designates the frequencytemperature characteristic of the main mode and I2 designates the frequency-temperature characteristic of the interfering mode. The crystal factivity is represented by the curve l3, said curve representing the rectified grid current values of the oscillator tube I4 in Figure 2 over the temperature range. It can be seen that the grid current drops sharply at the point of interference of the modes at the temperature value T1. The dotted line [5 in Figure 1 represents the oscillator tube plate current, which, as can be seen in Figure 1, rises sharply at the point of discontinuity of oscillations corresponding to temperature T1.

In the structure shown diagrammatically in Figure 2, a solenoid I6 is connected in series with the tube plate circuit, said solenoid being adapted tobe energized by a rise in plate current, such as occurs at T1, to raise an armature [1, said armature being pivotally mounted on an appropriate support and carrying a resilient upwardly extending pawl arm IS. A spring 19 biases armature IT to a normal depressed position.

Pivotally mounted on an appropriate support 20 is a shaft 2| carrying rigidly secured thereto a commutator drum '22 and a ratchet wheel 23. commutator drum 22 carries peripherally positioned thereon a spaced series of arcuate conductive elements 24 separated by equal arcuate lengths of insulating material and appropriately insulated from the remaining commutator structure. A pair of appropriate brushes 25 and 26 are positioned by conventional spring mountings so as to be at times bridged by conductive elernents 24 and at all times to exert light frictional pressure against the periphery of the commutator drum. Brushes 25 and 26 are connected to the temperature controlled circuit.

. Pawl arm I8 is formed to actuate ratchet wheel ways be positively closed at one side of temperature Ti, and always be positively opened at the other side of said temperature. It is also readily apparent that substantially no thermal lag exists in the device as such. The external thermal inertia effects may be minimized by mounting the crystal in a hermetically sealed metal holder filled with gas of high thermal conductivity and employing an exposed grounded wall of the holder as a crystal electrode. Said exposed wall may be positioned in any well known manner so as to be readily influenced by fluctuations in ambient temperature.

As shown in Figure 2, a variable shunt condenser 21 may be employed to vary the point of temperature response T1. The condenser 21 may be of any conventional type having a range of;

adjustment sufficient to adjust the frequency of the oscillator to a desired proximity thereof to the coupling frequency of the crystal. Ordinarily; the range required would be obtained by using anadjustable padder condenser such as is commonly employed in radio receivers. denser may be provided with a pointer device mounted on its shaft and a scale suitably calibrated in degrees of temperature so that the device may be set to close or open the control circuit above or below a predetermined value of ambient temperature.

In Figure 3 a remote control arrangement is disclosed whereby the operation of equipment remote from a temperature responsive element may be controlled in accordance with the ambient temperature at element 35. In this embodiment the temperature responsive element 35 comprises a crystal having characteristics such as shown in Figure l employed in a conventional oscillator circuit coupled to an antenna 30 which normally radiates radio frequency energy to a remote receiving antenna 3|. The energy received by antenna 3| is amplified by conventional means and maintains a solenoid 32 in an energized condition. Solenoid 32 thus normally maintains its armature 33 in a raised position with respect to a contact 34 and open-circuits the energizing circuit for a solenoid 36 which is similar in all respects to solenoid 16 in Figure 2 and has associated therewith the armature ratchet and commutator means of Figure 2.

When the control temperature T1 is reached at the temperature responsive element 35, the amplitude of the radio frequency energy radiated by antenna 30 drops sharply causing a corresponding drop in the amplitude of the current in solenoid 32 at the receiving station. Armature 33 is released, closing the energizing circuit for main solenoid 3B and producing a rotation of its associated commutator to thereby perform a control operation with respect to the controlled circuit in the same manner as in the embodiment of Figure 2.

In Figure 4 a variation of the crystal circuit of Figure 2 is employed wherein the energization Said shunt con steam orfthe main solenoid 48" isresponsive" to the decreaseofrectifiedgriii current in the crystal oscillator "tube at the couplingtemperature Tr. In Figure 4 a gridleak 41' is" shunted'across the grid and'cathode of the crystal oscillator" tube 42;. an adjustable contact 43f being: provided on said'jgrid leak, said? contact being 1 connected to the 'gridf of a triodfe 441' "The cathodeof triode 44 is connectedito'the cathode of oscillator tube- 42 The plate of trio'de 44 is connected to one terminal; of th'eimain'. solenoid 416', the other ter minal. being connected to'the positive terminal of a plate batteryi45'. I fj When. the) crystaliiis' oscillating normally re'cti fied' grid current flows through leak 4| so that the grid of triode. 44 is. at a substantial negative potential with respect to its cathode and substantially noplate current fiows the pl'ate circuit of triode 44, which includes solenoid 46 When the coupling temperature T1 is reached, the rectified grid current through leak 4| drops sharply. This reduces the potential between contact 43* and the-cathode terminal of leak 4|. The negative-bias is substantially reduced on the grid of triode 44;- This allows considerable plate current to flow intriode 44 and energizessolenoid 415 causing the actuation of its associated commutator elementto thereby perform a control operation on the controlled circuit. vj

In Figure 5aset of characteristics for a crystal 'havinga coupledmode effective to suppress the main mode; over a substantial temperature band is disclosed; The frequencyetemperature characteristic 5|" of the coupled-mode approaches the frequency-temperature: characteristic 52 of the main mode and continuously couples therewith vfrom a lower temperature value TA to an upper temperature value Te. This produces a region of. suppressed activity. as shown by the rectified rid current characteristic 531 and the. oscillator tube plate jcurrent characteristic 54. Such a crystal, when employed in the circuit of Figure 7 will be effective to directly control a desired circuit for energization or deenergization over the band of temperatures between TA and TB. As shown in Figure 7, a solenoid 56 is connected in the plate circuit of the crystal oscillator tube with its armature contacts arranged to maintain the controlled circuit open between temperature TA and temperature TB.

A result similar to that obtained by the circuit of Figure '7 when employing the crystal of Figure 5 may be obtained by employing in the circuit of Figure 2 or 4 a crystal having the characteristics of Figure 6. In Figure 6 the frequencytemperature characteristic 5| of the coupled mode intersects the frequency temperature characteristic 62 of the main mode at a first temperature Tm and at a second temperature Tm. Coupling occurs at both temperatures with resultant discontinuities at said coupling temperatures, as shown by the dips in the rectified grid current characteristic 63 and the sharp peaks in the oscillator tube plate current characteristic 64 at said coupling temperatures.

In Figure 6, a crystal having separate coupling modes may be employed to produce the spaced discontinuities instead of employing a single coupling mode having the curved characteristic therein shown.

Although the specific embodiments illustrative of the invention herein disclosed operate substantially as a result of discontinuities in oscillation caused by the interfering modes, it is Obvious that actual discontinuities need not be relied" orrand the operation may be ob-- tained as a result of mere couplingpfthe interfering modes suff cient to' produce distinct changes mom-rent in the oscillator circuit control devices; or in the amplitude of the oscillatime where radiated energy is employed. For

examplathe coupled modes may produce changes in circuit current" to actuate an indicating needle ora recording pen to provide a: temperature indication based upon'theproximity of the coupling modes: at an instantaneous-temperature. Other devices which are to be operated in a graduated manner in accordance with temperature changes may obviously'besubstituted for the currentr'esp'onsive indicators;

The oscillators disclosed in the various figures disclosed herein for vibrating the crystal may beemployed within venti'on. I

Whilecertain specific embodiments of temthe' contemplation of the in- I perature responsive control devices and methods have been disclosed in" the foregoing description it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention: may occur to those skilled in the-art; Therefore it is intended that nolimitations be placed on the invention other than as defined by the scope of the ap pended claims.

What is claimed is:

' 1. Means for controlling the operation of electrical equipment in accordance with changes in temperature, comprising a piezo-electric vibratory element, means for maintaining the equipment in a first condition when said vibratory element is vibrating in a first mode of vibration, said vibratory element having a second mode of vibration adapted to couple with said first mode in a predetermined manner responsive to changes in temperature, means for presetting the coupling temperature comprising a variable condenser calibrated in degrees of temperature connected across said vibratory element, and means responsive to the coupling of said second mode to said first mode for transferring the equipment from said first condition to a second condition.

2. Means for controlling the operation of an electrical device in accordance with changes in temperature, comprising a tuned plate oscillator having a crystal connected in its grid circuit whereby the crystal operates as the frequency control means for the oscillator, said crystal having a main mode and a secondary mode adapted to interfere with the main mode and suppress oscillations responsive to a predetermined temperature condition and input reactance condition of said crystal, means connecting the device to the plate circuit of the oscillator, and a variable impedance calibrated in degrees of temperature connected to said grid circuit and adapted to selectively vary the input reactance of the crystal to thereby vary the temperature condition at which interference between the modes will take place.

3. Means for controlling the operation of electrical equipment in accordance with changes in temperature, comprising a vibratory piezo- -electric element, means for maintaining the equipment in a first condition when said vibratory piezo-electric element is vibrating in a first mode of vibration, said vibratory piezo-electric element having a, second mode of vibration adapted to couple with said first mode in a predetermined manner responsive to changes in temperature, a variable capacitance calibrated in degrees of temperature connected across said piezo-electric element for pre-setting the coupling temperature, and means responsive to the coupling of said second mode to said first mode for transferring the equipment from said first condition to a second condition.

4. Means for controlling the operation of an electrical device in accordance with changes in temperature, comprising an oscillator having a piezo-electric vibratory element as its frequency control means, said vibratory element having a first mode of vibration and a second mode of vibration adapted to interfere with said first mode to suppress vibration responsive to a predetermined temperature condition and input reactance condition of said vibratory element, means connecting the oscillator to the device, and means for selectively varying the input reactance of the vibratory element to thereby vary the temperature condition at which interference between the modes will take place, said last named means comprising a variable condenser calibrated in degrees of temperature and connected across said vibratory element.

in a first condition when said vibratory element is vibrating in a first mode of vibration, said vibratory element having a second mode of vibration adapted to couple with said first mode in a predetermined manner responsive to changes in temperature, a variable condenser connected across said piezo-electric element for pre-setting the coupling temperature, said condenser including a movable portion carrying a pointer device and a relatively stationary scale calibrated in degrees of temperature, and means for transferring the device from said'first condition to a second condition responsive to the coupling of said second mode to said first mode.

HENRY M. BACH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,789,369 Meissner Jan. 20, 1931 1,912,213 Nicolson May 30, 1933 1,958,620 Hersing May 15, 1934 1,975,812 Wallace Oct. 9, 1934 1,994,228 Osnos Mar. 12, 1935 1,996,737 Bechman Apr. 9, 1935 2,054,659 Osnos Sept. 15, 1936 2,056,285 Machlet Oct. 6, 1936 2,137,304 Parkin Nov. 22, 1938 2,171,243 McKesson Aug. 29, 1939 2,277,692 Dunmore Mar. 31, 1942 2,306,555 Mueller Dec. 29, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 7,807 Australia "June 13, 1933 of 1932 509,866 Great Britain July 24, 1929 295,957

Great Britain A118- 17, 1928 

